Disastrous day for Team Korea
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In the top photo, South Korea’s Shim Suk-hee, left, and Choi Min-jeong fall after they crashed into each other during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics women's 1,000-meter short track speed skating final at the Gangneung Ice Arena, Thursday. In the bottom photo, Lim Hyo-jun crashes during the men’s 5,000-meter relay final. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul
Short-track team ends races on sour note
By Baek Byung-yeul, Kang Hyun-kyung, Kim Hyun-bin
A series of mishaps engulfed South Korea’s short track speed skaters on what was supposed to be a “Golden Day,” Thursday.
In the women’s 1,000 meters, gold medal favorites -- Shim Suk-hee and Choi Min-jeong -- failed to clinch their second and third gold medals.
With two laps to go, the two collided, while trying to outpace their rivals, and fell and slid into the boards.
Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands finished first, followed by Kim Boutin of Canada and Arianna Fontana of Italy.
After the race, Shim, the world record holder, said she had no regrets as she did her best. “My family was always there for me and tried to stand by me all the time whenever I need their help. I am grateful of them for their unwavering support,” she said. “Lots of things happened to me while preparing for the Olympics. I learned a lot.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice trembled as she talked about her family.
Her medal hunt at the Olympics ended with a single gold in women’s 3,000-meter relay.
Choi was one of the gold medal favorites in women’s 1,000 meters.
In the semifinals, she finished third but advanced to the final as China’s Chunyu Qu received a penalty for interfering with the Korean skater.
Choi, who was highly anticipated to win three golds at least at the Olympics, finished with two gold medals in women’s 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter relay short track speed skating finals.
She was disqualified in the women’s 500-meter final for interfering with another skater after she finished second in the race.
In the men’s 500 meters, Hwang Dae-heon and Lim Hyo-jun took silver and bronze at the Gangneung Ice Arena, Thursday.
China’s Wu Dajing won gold, breaking his own world record coming in at 39.584 seconds.
Wu set two world records the same day, clocking in at 39.80 in the quarterfinals in the 500 meters.
Hwang and Lim crossed the finish line in 39.854 and 39.919 seconds.
Lim has won two medals in PyeongChang, claiming gold and bronze in the men’s 1,500 and 500 meters.
Hwang has one medal in this year’s Winter Games.
Lim and Hwang were in the same heat during the semi-finals, but both advanced to the final, marking the first time for two South Korean short track skaters to advance to the medal round.
Wu has been dominating the 500-meter race, finishing first or second in four previous world championships. He also claimed silver at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Seo Yi-ra, who won bronze in the men’s 1,000 meters, failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 500-meter race, after contact with a Chinese skater caused them both to fall shortly after the start.